Here is the latest innovation news from around Texas.
—Tom Goodman, product development officer for the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, was in Houston Wednesday speaking to a meeting of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs. Goodman, who took his position at CPRIT the past March, gave the group a general overview the grant process as well as updated them on ongoing sub-committee discussions among agency officials, including the adoption of a fixed formula for returns. While CPRIT does have grants to recruit out-of-state biotech companies to Texas, Goodman added that “there is so much indigenous talent in Texas, I want to pay attention to getting research out of the laboratories and into companies.”
—Dallas entrepreneur Sanjiv Sidhu spoke to Xconomy about his latest company, o9 Solutions, which makes business management software. Sidhu, who previously founded and led i2 Technologies, says o9 brings better analytical prowess to executives deluged by big data.
—FieldAware, a Plano, TX-based software company, said Wednesday it had raised $24 million from Summit Bridge Capital, as well as Silicon Valley Bank and existing investors such as OpenView Venture Partners and Atlantic Bridge Partners. The company’s app creates a mobile platform for engineers and other workers who work on site in industries such as oil and gas, property management, and HVAC.
—Sandlot Solutions, a healthIT company based in Irving, TX, Wednesday that it has raised $23.3 million. Sandlot makes software that connects providers’ electronic health record systems, as well as providing them big data analytics tools and services. Investors include Lemhi Ventures and two existing investors, North Texas Specialty Physicians and Santa Rosa Holdings.
—Texas startups and organizations designed to help them are rapidly increasing in number throughout the state. From Techstars Austin to The Ironyard in Houston and HealthWildcatters in Dallas, entrepreneurs have access to a wider variety of resources in Texas.
—Austin, TX-based Upland Software has filed for an initial public offering of its stock. The company develops cloud-based work management software for enterprises and plans to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol UPLD.
—Oyokey, an Irving-based startup that has developed a keyword-based system to allow users to browse the Internet through voice commands, has raised $1 million in seed funding. It had previously raised $100,000 from Dallas venture capital firm Naya Ventures.
—Austin’s Favor, which makes an app of the same name, connects users to personal assistants who will arrange deliveries of items from local restaurants or stores. The startup has raised $2 million in a seed round from investors such as Tim Draper and Silverton Partners. It operates in both the Texas capital and Boston.
—iSight Security, a Dallas-based cyber intelligence firm, last week raised $6.9 million in subordinated unsecured debt, according to its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
—Former Austin City Councilmember Louise Epstein has been named the managing director of the Innovation Center at the University of Texas’s Cockrell School of Engineering. In this position, she will also manage the Longhorn Startup program, which provides training and support to student and faculty startups.
